Means for winning and preparing peat



July' 3, 1945. Q A FRlBERG Z379,570

MEANS FOR WINNING AND PREPARING PEAT Filed Sept. 4, 194:5v 2 SheefS-Sheet l July 3? 1945. c. A. FRIBERG MEANS FOR WINNING AND PREPARI'NG PEAT Filed Sept. 4, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Patented July 3, 1945 i asiatici y y v MEANseFoRiWINNINGEANDIPREPARING f 1' ,PEA'r CrLAlIan Fiziberg, Malmo, .Sweden Application September 4, -I94g Serial No. 5,015,328' l In Sweden Septemb'el"1`,.1942`= This; invention refers tov vr an: improved@ means for winningflpeatfromi-pe'at bo'gs.-l

Anobject-off the invention) is tlieprovisionrof a means v whereby the peat iswon'abyd meansf4 of brushing. f v l further object* ofi this inventionis L to@ enable ay certain Iprepa-rationofy the brushedloff? peat in conjunction with#thefbrushing-offf processiv Another obj ect within 'f'th'ef'pnrviewl'of the present vinvention is lthe conveyance' oi'the' brushedoi peatlon' conveyenmeasns-toan'y preferred'place of dischargel'- Y Another object witliin -tliescopefof-the presentkk inventionisltlie comminutingl of' 'the brushedoff peat simultaneously with the brushing-'off l process; i

The range of the inventionlalso vcomprisesa vigorous lintermixing-v of'- thev peat partioles brushed oif the various layers 'of 4the peat trench.

The inventionk also contemplatestlie'lelimlnaf tionV ofa subsequent grinding: or'k'neadingvofi the peat necessaryfor obtainingrv afpeat'l m'a's's'of uniform structure. f s

Further objectsof the invention Will become clear inthe course ofEA the description; i

Inv order that' the invention-1mayilbeeasilyunderstood it willl now --be described infdetail' rei'- erenoe beingmadel to the" attaohedli drawings which `illustrate anvembodiment of f th'edeviee-y aecordingto the invention:

Fig. 1 is a side View of the apparatusS-at wor-k. Fig; 2 is a crosssectionalong-ltheline It--II about itshorizontal axle: on the a1m13`insuch awayfthat 'it may assume anapproxima't'elyfhorizontal position. Tofy the upper` end'ky of. th'ebeam 8 is fastened* the end of al wirefS, whose? other end is'wound-around'a drum I'I' thatlcan bet rotatedl .byA means of ai handle'andA secured?. by! a ratchet`-andpawl device. By means'.A of". this winch the Ibeam 8f may bewad'just'ed 'in anyfp'osition" between its vertical andv horizontalfl endl` positon's. f v

Ontheloweriend ofthe beamfandonthatlside thereof facing the sledare mounteda-pai'r: of:` rotati'ngf brushes I-2 whose axles extendffsu'bstantiallyr parallel to onev another and" to the: directionfo'f extension of -thebeam 8; In thef illustrated Aexample each of the rotating brushesf'is driven at ahigh speed by its appropriateelectric motor- IS fixed onthe beam 8, but, ofcourse; the brushesfcan 'be driven in any'other way.v` Thetwo brushes I2.A are rotated by the motors I32in-loppo site directions and in such a-way thatv'therf'juxt'apose'dperipheral"y portions travel' towards= the 'beam 8. Between the brushes is locateda block |142- of roughly triangular cross-sectionsaid block 'l extending along they lengthof the lbrushes and one of itstriangular sides being substantially;v in

alignment with the tangential plane ofi the' oircumferences oilV the brushes opposite.: the: beami l8 andi the other triangular sidesof theblockfkbeing arcuated in I. such av way thatthey.- runs substantiallyparallelto'the'circumferences of the brushes and?A are located at a little distance: fromi same;v

in Fig. 1 in which for olaritysfsakefcertain'.parts have not'beenY shown.

and f outward'r extendin'gfleg's 15 carmingflwheels' 61' by means of. which. arme13f when" rotatinge--about the pivot 4 can roll along an arcuate rail i 'I mounted on theframe.

Ontothe free end tof. thei arm` 3f? af long-1 iframe member orv beam 8` is rotatably mounted-` about au horizontal axle. Thatfpart of; the'zb'eam `Bifextending downward from its f mountingfisz-heavierthan the other partgso that the-beam tendswtorassume an approximatelyvertical positionwonzfaccount-f of l the forceftof.- gravity: The `z beam:4 8;"5 is rotatablei A'wconveyer band I5 is stretched over-"an upper drum |61 and alower drum I'IA inside the lower frame-like end'ofthe beam Il. The conveyer band isxadapted in-sucn away that its one'partf. extends-alongthe wholelength of thevbrushes and comparatively close to same, and inthe illustrated example' extends somewhatl above: the-c brushes, before it runs over the. upper drum I6. The conveyerfband. I5 is driven' at a great speed and in such; a manner by means of an electric. motor located: in the lupperdrum` I 6 thatthatpart.` of the: conveyer. band. facing' the r brushes travels.A in 'anlupward direction. y

Adjacent` the conveyer yband I 5` at'vtheupper endlofthatpartof the band facingrth'eibrushes I2 andysomewhat above that point where the band beginsto bend over the upper drum |61 is located the one end` of an arcuate plate I8 xedftothe beamf. Underneath the plate is the terminalof another conveyor I9. extending; across two drums Athefbearings of one of, said drums being; mounted on. the beam 8,- the-bearings ofthe other\'2-'If on essthe arm e means of a rigid rod 23. The conveyer band I9,

like the band I5, is driven by means of an electric motor located in one of the drums'.

When peat is to be won from a bog with the apparatus described herein a portion of the bog of at least the same width and length as that of themachine is rst cleared; a strip of the bog of at least the same width as that ofthe apparatus may preferably be cleared. It is not necessary to clear any further portions of the bog before working same in contrast to digging, milling, cutting or slicing or paring peat in turfs or sods."

Various parts of the .bog to be worked are then cleared as the apparatus proceeds. The apparatus is transported onto the bog with'its beam i 8 hoisted substantially horizontal `by means ofthe winch 9-|I. After the starting of the brushes I2 and the conveyer .bands I5 and I9, the bea'm 8 is gradually lowered by means of the winchl B-I I,

so v,that the brushes, which are provided with preferably rather long bristles made of a hard,

H tough and resilient material, preferably piano wires or `stainless steel, come into contact with the surface of the bog and begin to brush off peat therefrom. Because, as` already mentioned, the brushes I2 rotate at a great speed with their juxtaposed faces moving in a direction towards the conveyer band I5 and because the .block I4` `encloses the circumference of the brushes approximately between the surface of the bog and Lthe, point where the surfaces of the brushes are nearest one another, the brushed-off wet peat will be ung against the conveyer band I5 and ad- :hereto the 'surface thereof. The block I4 also prevents the brushes-from brushing off bigger lumps from the bog. To prevent any accidental contact with the brushes'a pair of arcuate guard plates 24 are provided, which atL the same time* 4 prevent any peat left in the brushes from being nung out sideward. During the brushing procis swung to and fro by means of a suitable device (not shown in the drawings) so that its supporting wheels 6 roll to and fro from one end of the rail to the other. For every oscillation of the arm 3 the beam 8 is swung a little towards the vertical position so that the brushes I2 may brush off a new layer of the bog. The swinging of the beam 8 ltowards the vertical position is interrupted preferably before the beam has assumed the vertical position (see Fig. 1).

y The feeding of the brushes I2 working against the surface of the bog is performed besides swinging the arm 3 to and fro by moving the sled -It'o the right with respect to Fig. 1, for example, by means of a winch (not shown). The apparatus will thus brush an excavation across the bog the width thereof corresponding to the effective range of the arm 3.

As the band I5 runs at a high speed, the wet ypeat brushed 0H by the brushes and flungagainst the conveyer band will adhere to the band in the form of a comparatively thin layer, and, as the brushes, when brushing oif the peat,I nely com# minute the same, and as the brushes extend aparm 3. In order to keep the conveyer band I9 ltight, the bearings 2U and 2| are connected by a high speed that the collected layer of peat thereon may not become thicker than a few millimeters, so that the product taken oir from the conveyor band will not only be finely comminuted but also very uniform, so that the composition of the product will correspond throughout to the average composition of the layer of peat in the bog. This eliminates the necessity of any subsequent grinding, kneading or similar treatment of the peat thus won, when producing a finely commin-uted product of uniform oonsistence.

Thanks to the great speed of the conveyer band I5, the layer of peat adhering thereto during its passage along the brushes I2 will be flung away from the conveyer band on account of its inertia, when the conveyer band passes over the upper drum I6. Thepeat flung from the conveyer band hits the plate I8. from which it falls down onto the conveyer band i9 that conveys the peat to the front end, where it can be suitably scraped off and fall down into a tilting truck or onto a conveyer extending along the travelling direction of` the sled for further conveyance to a peat manufactory, for example, near the bog. The peat may naturally also be subjected to further treatment by ymeans-of machines mounted onthe sled, for example, drying in a centrifugal machine, pressing in a briquette pressetc.

It will be Vappreciatedthat the invention is not Ato be considered as limited to the example illusby Letters comprising a carriage movable on the surface of the bog, a substantially cylindrical brush of relatively great axial length rotatably mounted on tating said .brush about its axis at a high speed,

an endless conveyer band having a surface to which comminuted peat can adhere, said band being mounted above said brush with its upwardly running peat collecting` surface facing downwardly towards said brush and substantially parallel to the axis thereof, and vmeans for driving said conveyer band at a sufficiently high speed to of said brushes about its axis at a high speed, an

endless conveyer band having a surface to which Y' comminuted peat can adhere, said band being mountedl above said brushes with its upwardly running peat collecting surface facing down- .movable substantially transversely thereto, a substantially cylindrical brush carried by said transversely movable member and adapted to work in an approximately upright-position on one side of a peat trenchin the b0g,`means for rotating said brush about its axis at a high speed, an endless conveyer band having a surface to which comminuted peat can adhere, said band being mounted above said brush with its upwardly running peat collecting surface facing downwardly towards said brush and substantially parallel to the axis thereof, and means for drivingsaid conveyer band at a suficiently high speed to throw oi the adhering peat layer at the top of said band. y

4. An apparatus for winning peat from bogs, comprising a carriage movable on the surface of the bog, an arm mounted on said carriage and movable in a horizontal plane in relation thereto,

said arm having` one end projecting beyond said` carriage, a beam mounted on the projecting end of said arm so that said beam is swingable about a horizontal axis between approximately horizontal and vertical positions, a cylndricalrotary' brush mounted on said beam and having its axis parallel thereto, means for .driving said brush at a high speed, and an endless conveyer band having a surface to which comminuted `peat can adhere, said band being mounted on said beam above said brushand driven at a relatively high speed, said brush being adapted to work on one side of a peat trench in the bog for brushing off v peat from said side and inging it upwardly onto the downwardly facing bight of the conveyer band.

5. An apparatus for winning peat from bogs,

comprising a carriage movable on the surface ofv the bog, a member movable on said carriage transversely thereto and projecting beyond one end thereof, a beam mounted onsaid movable member beyond said end of said carriage, said beam being swingable from an approximately horizontal position to an approximately vertical position, a pair o f parallel substantially cylindrical rotary -brushes mounted on said beam parallel thereto, means for driving said brushes in relatively opposite directions at high speeds, and an endless conveyer band having a surface to which comminuted peat can adhere, said band 

